Rosemary, Christmas Break
by Springrain
Summary: I'm not sure what part this is, that's why there is that title... Continuation of Harry's cousin's story.
1. Default Chapter Title

A/N: All characters and places in the story are copyright J.K. Rowling except Rosemary, Laura, Brandon, and Ruth. Question at end. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Rosemary-  
Clam down. I don't hate you. The sorting hat almost placed me in Slytherin before the boundaries were re-modeled. You see, previously, Slytherin was the people to be hated. Gryffindor were the rescuers. But dark magic is almost gone. By next year I should be done. Now, why do you talk of inheriting stuff? Am I going to die soon and nobody has told me yet?  
Love, _Harry_

-~- 

Dear Rosemary,  
have you broken their hypnotism yet? That's what we figured they must have done. You must hurry and come back so you can be a normal girl again.  
From,   
Your Real Loving Family  


-~- 

(Rosemary's journal) 

My owl, Salatina, brought back replies to my letters this morning. I don't know what to think. Harry doesn't seem to hold a grudge, luckily. Mom and Dad think I'm hypnotized of all things, and I hate magic like they do. But, this is the only place I've ever felt I've really, truly belong. This is my life, my home, now. 

-~- 

(Rosemary's journal, later on) 

We had our first flying lesson today, I did okay. Being up in the air is the best feeling in the world. But I didn't like the idea of slipping off or something. The broom I had kept jerking around. Madame Change said that if I had a better broom that wouldn't be a problem. I still think it would be nice to fly along, with relying so much on a round pole with twigs sticking out one end. You know, Superman style would be better. 

Madame Chang's nice. Kind of weird though. She kept looking at me and afterwards commented that she liked my eyes. I wonder where that came from. 

-~- 

(Summary of Rosemary's next 3 months.) 

School life at Hogwarts rolled on. Rosemary's best subjects were herbology, potions, and astronomy. Laura's new favorite word became "awesome." Brandon kept begging Rosemary to somehow obtain Harry's invisibility cloak and Marauder's Map 

-~- 

Dear Rosemary dear,  
You must try and come home for Christmas. We'll make sure you're safe from all magic forever. Nobody can hurt our little baby!  
Your dearest parents.  


-~- 

Rosemary read her mail and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure they'll try to rescue me from the 'evil wizards.' I wish them luck. They still don't understand anything," she sighed, taking a quill our of her book bag. Rosemary wrote: "_I'm staying_," and gave it to Salatina. 

"You're going to be here? Well, have fun girl! I'll invite you next year if you want. You could have told me earlier, you know. But now the 'rents have made some many plans... Anyway, have a blast! Only one more week and a day until I _have_ to go to a bunch of lame 'get-togethers' where little old hags exclaim about I'm in Hogwarts already. I mean, come on!" Laura rolled her eyes when she finally paused. 

"Everyone is going. If you ask Ruth she could get you something from Zonko's tomorrow. I think it is so unfair we can't go to Hogsmeade. I mean, what do you think we'd do, blow it up or something?" Brandon joined in. 

"You're just mad 'cause your sisters won't buy you anything anymore. Maybe if you hadn't planted that thing under that tile..." 

"But that was the best trick! I thought it would blow when Fred Weasley cleaned it, not when McGonagall stepped on it. He has a sense of humor. I think he and George were supposed to have given Harry the map," he looked pleadingly at Rosemary. 

"Yeah, the care and ground keepers know every passage way in the school. There were those two that you showed me that 'nobody know about.' Are you saying Fred could have come in at any moment? I'm so glad I can trust you Brandon." Rosemary turned on her heel and left after her sarcasm. 

"Some of them have to be new, right Laura? Laura?" Brandon muttered, but Laura was following Rosemary. 

-~- 

(Rosemary journal) 

I love Christmas. The whole school smeels of pine needles and cinnamon. Well, in poitions we're working on colors, and some of the dye uses vinegar. We always have to shower and change after that class. 

Today's the last day before Christmas Break. I'm the only first-year Slytherin who will be staying. It will be kind of lonely, but there are a bunch of extra credit lessons offered. And the homework they give us over break! Especially in history. It really is an integrated project. we have to do a timeline on all that we have covered so far, and put a charm on it so stuff will move. The battles have to be won in the right way and everything! Gotta go! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Question: Some people say these are all too short. Do you want me to post less often with more to each one, or more often and smaller? 

~Springrain 


	2. Default Chapter Title

All characters (and other junk) except Rosemary, Laura, and the Lee's are J.K. Rowling. The above characters are mine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

On Christmas Eve Rosemary put a stocking on her bedpost. She didn't expect to get anything, but Headmistress McGonagall told the remaining student to at the feast, which has just ended. Almost all of the students had made their own stocking in a workshop taught earlier that week. Making magical objects was a complex art requiring a combination of many different spells, from potion to transfigurations. Even the starts had to be in the right position to make everything work out. 

Sleep came easy to Rosemary. There were no snores or rustlings from the other beds, they were all empty. The silks were satiny and expensive looking. It took a while for Rosemary to get used to it when she first came. 

When the morning sun drifted in through the window, Rosemary slowly opened her eyes and stretched. The stocking hung there, with interesting bulges in it. But the most surprising thing was the small note on top of it. 

_Grab your stocking (no peeking!) and go outside your common room. Turn right three times (when you get to intersections). Go up the spiral staircase on your left. When you see a reddish stone near the top, tap it three times with your wand and go inside. This is no joke._

-~- 

(Rosemary's point of view) 

I didn't know what to think of the note. It sounded like something Brandon would do, but he wasn't here. Neither was Laura, who would be giggling uncontrollably right now. 

I did follow the note, making sure nobody saw me go. Cheetah, my kitty, followed. I hate to look foolish and be embarrassed or helpless, but curiosity conquered this. I didn't know where I was at all. There is no sense of direction in my possession. At the top of the stairs was a red stone. It seemed to blend in, even though it was different from the light grey rock surrounding it. 

I tapped it like the note said. A door appeared, and then slowly opened into a large empty room. Cautiously I stepped in, and the door slammed behind me. Looking around, I saw it had vanished, leaving a normal wall. 

The room contained a large desk, bed, Christmas tree, and many bookshelves. I sat down on a rolling chair, spinning around as I waited. 

"Hee-hee, no don't. Stop it! that tickles! Ron!" 

Professer Granger? I stood up, holding my wand at ready. 

"Thanks, scare her to death. Hi Rosemary." 

I screamed. Harry's, Granger's and someone else's head were floating in mid-air. I was trapped. 

Oh man, I forgot how spooky this looking." The man I didn't know spoke. He had bright red hair and looked like the Weasley twins. 

Harry moved, becoming completely visible and soon had a bunch of silverish cloth in his hands. 

"Sorry girl. This is an invisibility cloak. I'm sure you've heard of it," he said, "and this is Ron Weasley. Yes, he's the twins brother." 

Ron had his arm around my professor, who I tried not to looking in the eye. 

"Merry Christmas! This is my room. We thought you might like to be with someone now. Open up your stocking!" she said, sitting down on the floor by the Christmas tree. Harry and Ron followed suit. 

I joined them, and reached for my stocking, which had been dropped in the surprise earlier. Opening it up, I lifted up a bag of chocolate frogs. Laura remembered how much I love chocolate. I pocketed t he note attached to it. Then there was an orange. It didn't look like a normal orange, there was a strange golden glow about it. 

"Oh, I've heard of those," Ron said enthusiastically. "Read the card, it should say how to open it." 

The enveloped had the same glow. I tried to open it neatly (it'd be fun to tease my parents with), but I'm not someone who can open envelopes neatly. This one ended up with the normal scraggly edge. 

"We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas..." 

The card sang! And on the font was a picture of Brandon's family, the Lee's. They were singing, albeit reluctantly in Brandon's case. Then they took out a identical orange, placing it on a small table. Their mom took out her wand, tracing a circle around it. With one sharp tap of her wand, the orange burst open into a golden flower, which soon took up the whole picture. 

I looked up at Ron, Harry, and Granger. 

"Wait until later," Harry advised. 

So I set the shining sphere aside and dug back into my stocking. My hand touched something silky and soft which tickled my fingers. Pulling it out, I saw it was an ornate quill. 

"Now remember, I give this to you as Harry's friend, not as your teacher. That quill is especially made for drawing. There should be ink in there too." 

I remember all my doodles on transfiguration notes and assignments. "Thanks." 

I reached back in my stocking for the ink, which turned out to be "any-color-you-imagine-ink" from Ron. There were two more things in my stocking. One was a blank piece of parchment. It had to be the famous Marauder's Map. 

"Oh, Harry, you didn't. I can't live with the idea of knowing a student has it..." Professor Granger protested. 

"I could do a simple Forgetting Charm, if you let your shield down," Ron suggested. 

"Shield? What shield?" I asked. 

"A protection for us teachers. It makes it impossible for you students to enchant us," she explained. 

"At east in most cases," Ron muttered. They stepped through a wall while Harry and I waited. Cheetah crawled in my lap, wanting to investigate my presents, especially the quill. 

"Put the map back into your stocking, along with this." Harry reached into his bag, drawing gout the silvery invisibilty cloak I saw earlier. "Be careful, it was my dad's, and then mine. Don't let it get you in trouble. To work the map, tap it with your wand and say something like 'I swear only to do mischief.' When you are done, be sure to erase it by saying 'Mischief managed." 

Ron and Granger came back in. She looked kind of dazed. 

"Well, what else do have in there?" Ron asked. 

I fumbled around the map and cloak, finding a small bag of "Bertie's Every Flavor Beans," which all students still at school got. Then it was Harry's turn. 

-~- 

(Laura's note) 

Hey girl! I'm doing just what I said I would. Have the great Christmas possible, be back on the third. 

You know who I saw the other day? That second year who said hi to me once! He- (message stopped to save reader's mind from boredom) 

-~- 

(Rosemary's journal) 

Christmas was more wonderful then I could ever imagine! My stocking was full. In the morning I got a note that told me the directions to Granger's apartment (it didn't tell me that at the time). Harry, Ron, and her were there. Ron helped during the Great Battle. I got a lot of stuff in my stocking. Something from each of them. And Harry gave me the famous Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak! I'm not sure if I will tell Brandon though. **giggle** And Professor Granger is engaged! Ron gave her a ring for Christmas, and I was there! Granger doesn't know about the stuff Harry gave me, Ron did a memory charm because she didn't want to know. 

We had another feast afterwards. It was so good! The whole day was spent outside in the snow. We through snowballs on brooms! I'm getting pretty good at flying. Not enough for quidditch, I'm not very athletic, but still getting better. 

I'm going to try out Harry's gifts now. Not sure where I'll go, probably to that dark empty staircase off the Great Hall. No, I'll wait till Laura is here. I'm not sure where to go. Oh, Mom and Dad sent me something, actually. A note to come home (again) and a scrunchie (pink, clashes with my hair). How nice and thoughtful. Ugh. 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The ink is from a short story, a Chinese legend or something. It sounded cool. I hope I got some little things right, like how to work certain maps. I need to buy the books. 

Springrain 


	3. Default Chapter Title

A/N: Rosemary is mine. Hogwarts is J.K. Rowlings. Read other parts first. 

(Rosemary's POV) 

I peered around a corner. Empty. It was pitch black, being the middle of the night. I carefully stepped down the hall, trying to remember where I had decided to go. 

"Tra-la-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la-la, hm-hm…" Somebody down the hall whistled. 

Shrinking back against the wall, I pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around myself, I never would have dared to go out now without it. 

Fred Weasley went by, still whistling. 

I walked on, every once in a while pulling out a pieces of parchment to look at it. The Marauder's Map, which showed all of Hogwarts and what went on there. Earlier, I had decided to go to a classroom that didn't seem to have any purpose, and oddly enough didn't have a normal visible door, at least in the daytime. There seemed to be a few of them at Hogwarts, but this one looked like it needed to be explored. 

Arriving at the spot, I then looked at the map again. There, a little drawing of me rubbed the wall with her wand, then pushed the wall in. I copied the movements, and when the whole wall collapsed silently, tried not be surprised. I stepped in. 

The room was almost empty, except for a chair, which shimmered with some waiting magic. I turned, and pretended to pull the wall back up like my map equal did. Brick by brick jumped into place, amking a little swishing sound that nobody else better have heard. 

With a wave and a whisper of "lumos," light filled the room. But nothing else was revealed. I sighed and stamped my foot. What was the point of this room? To protect a chair? I sent a weak secret revealer charm around. It wouldn't tell me what this was for, but if there was anything hidden. The room became so bright I had to close my eyes. Apparently there either was a big secret here, or many little ones. 

I look over at the chair. It was just a plain wooden one, but it had to be the key to the now-darkened secrets. That little voice in my head kept saying that "_suriousity killed the cat._" Ignoring it, I walked over, crossed my fingers, and sat down. 

"Oomph." 

The chair wasn't a chair anymore. Instead, I found myself sitting in a huge beanbag chair, with a scroll in my lap. The scroll was tied with an orange thread, which was untying itself, It disappeared, and the scroll opened. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Cliffhanger now because I am tired of typing and this is a good stopping point, kinda. Half of the next part is already written. Not sure when I can post it. 

~Springrain 


End file.
